Plus, even if you consider Eli one of our top 5 players, which might be true, that doesnât necessarily make him a starter. I thought Jacari was one of our 5 best players last year, and he thrived in his microwave role off the bench, same for Chance. That dynamic can work really well, and I think Eli could be that this year.
3 Likes
Still getting through the full game, but my major takeaway so far is ⌠Louis Bond! If his jumper stays consistent, I think heâll be playing at a high major next year.
8 Likes
Top 4 averaging 66ppg. May not last at that level, but that is a very high floor for any game we play this year especially as the rotation tightens.
still think the complaints here are first world problems. We have one of the better starting units in the country. The offense (and defensive pressure) will be able to flip games with 10-0 spurts. That consistent attacking pressure will wear teams down.
Excited for Sunday, should be a good one!
7 Likes
My two cents:
- Sam had Chanceâs game from Drexel - just never really got into a finishing flow, tried to push too much. Still results in 8-8 FTs when the refs did the inevitable and started with calls on Northeastern. Why we canât get him open looks from 3 is a bit beyond my pay grade.
- TDR is just aggressive and he is still learning to contain it and channel it. He looks very comfortable and confident in his 3-point shot and some of the moves at the rim will start to fall. He should be shooting 6-8 FTs minimum per game. I thought it was a stretch for him to be pre-season ACC POY, but itâs certainly not looking that way so far - he has improved so much on top of everything he brought to the table last year.
- Chance with the bounce back- still the straw stirring a bit too fast but really like his confidence
- Not seeing what others see in Anya - the offensive hit is a lot when heâs out there
- Nolan is still learning his role out there - I think he follows Smâs path from last year when he was passive and then grew as the season progressed.
- Like Dixon - a lot.
- X improved most in my mind from game 1 to game 2 of anyone on the team. Under control today and though a small sample size, heâs looking like heâs made the Justin Anderson leap from outside
- GrĂźnloh is good - I donât see âweakâ hands - I see a lot of bad or ill-advised lobs to him
- Still baffled by CROâs combinations, but Iâm putting it down to wanting to just let guys play while keeping Sundayâs game in mind
- The game looked closer than it actually was - not the same kind of anaconda-like strangling of other teams that we got with CTBâs teams, but we just methodically kept building the lead.
- Northeastern is a good team - there are three guys on that team that can play high major. The 34 point spread was a joke to start with and yes, we all should have collectively bought aggressive futures against the spread in the âprediction marketsâ
Looking forward to tomorrow - to see what the team has learned so far (and I disagree with whoever said we shouldnât have 3 games in less than a weekâs time - these guys are young, in shape and the more playing now, the better they will be for Sundayâs game - I donât think Arkansas learned a lot in their game, but Cal is Cal and he can coach).
10 Likes
Iâm with ya on Kalu. Put in Barksdale for Anyaâs minutesâI think Silas has more potential and is as good as Anya right now. Also I think Barksdale is hiding a lot of his offseason muscle gains underneath his T-shirt and a lot of people would be surprised at how yoked he actually is.
1 Like
What does âusageâ measure/ tell us? I am terrible at these things
2 Likes
Basically how much you are doing stuff with the ball on offense. Itâs calculated based on how many shots, turnovers, and free throws you have relative to how many the team has during your minutes.
1 Like
So sorta touches on how much you have the ball in your hands kinda thing?
Of course I am biased toward watching X when he is in. And I think he is that spark kinda guy who does more with relatively less touches. But could be wrong in the âwatching your kid playâ syndrome hahah
4 Likes
i think bond and the other guy (king?) were as responsible for the close game in the beginning as our poor play. But even as bond came out hot in the second half we were pulling away.
looking at the box score king and bond were a combined 17 of 30 (57%) and some of those shots were well contested. they shoot a little worse and its a complete blowout.
2 Likes
I like the in game commentary. But I think itâs fair to be frustrated that a lot of the in game posts seem to be tied to a bigger point the poster wants to make about our offseason strategy, our ability to win in March, etc etc. (Which have all been heard!). Iâd rather talk about the game in the game thread - good bad or whatever- but thatâs just me.
People can post what they want to post at the end of the day. Ignore function still works.
5 Likes
NE as a whole was 12-15 from the midrange thanks to them:
https://barttorvik.com/shotchart.php?year=2027&muid=NortheasternVirginia11-6
Just gotta tip the cap sometimes.
5 Likes
Totally agree about the part about using little sequences in game to validate bigger narratives. Way too soon for that.
2 Likes
We can validate all opinions one way or the other after tomorrows game tho right??
2 Likes
Should be said you can effect the game in ways other than offensive usage
Real adjusted plus minus per hoop explorer right now (absurdly small sample size obviously lol and the usual caveats about on/off based stats being sometimes misleading)
De Ridder +11.6
Lewis +10.4
Adekunle +6.9
GrĂźnloh +6.8
Gertrude +5.6
Mallory +2.0
Dixon +1.9
Carrere -0.1
Vide -0.4
Anya -4.2
2 Likes
Iâve always thought of usage as âwho ended the play?â So who shot or turned it over or drew the FT basically.
Itâs not necessarily who had the ball in their hands the longest.
And 20% is the baseline, sorta (100% divided by 5 players).
3 Likes
Thanking you sir. Makes sense and is terribly flawed in ways. But I like the idea.
Kinda like are all fumbles bad? Or just the ones you lose
1 Like
sure, but âaffecting the game in other waysâ still usually includes a double digit usage rate. to put it in perspective - Jack Saltâs career low usage for a season was 11.1.
Who was doing the game last night? PBP/Color? I donât even know how to look that up anymore
A: Color was Dennis Scott. Said his son played against Chance in HS
1 Like
My thoughts after two games:
-
core four looks as good as advertised. Maybe not the exact allocation of stats we mightâve predicted but the overall carrying the team is there. Only slight concern is the lack of disruption at the rim (two games is a small sample size)
-
Elijah gives us 5 reliable contributors
-
Dixon sure looks like heâs going to be a 6th, even if the overall impact is a bit mixed so far (to be fair janky minutes so hard to get in a flow). 2nd half stretch against Drexel the most promising bench run from anyone through two games
-
Need more impact from Adekunle and Anya. Give them a little grace given their adjustment but if we are only going to have 8 consistent rotation players all 8 of them need to add value
-
No one else has separated to make it a 9 or 10 man ration thus far. I suspect Arkansas will be a big audition for Vide as we will want ball handling against their pressure
5 Likes
Not vs Arkansas or Maryland but next mid major we play I would love to see Barksdale get a shot. Iâm not too super high on him but he is taller, known as a rebounder in aau, and has a developing 3pt shot.
6 Likes